Position statement on cancer and the environment

1
Position statement on cancer and the environment

• DR CARL ALBRECHT
• HEADRESEARCH
• CALBREC_at_IAFRICA.COM
• Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA)
• 4th June 2008

2
THE WAR AGAINST CANCER

• We are about half-way in the war against cancer.
• It could last another 50 years
• The biggest problems are
• Lack of specific therapy
• Cancer spread throughout the body
• Lack of insight into the causes of breast and
  prostate cancers
• Behavioural change

• STATISTICS
• 12.3 million new cases in 2007
• 7.65 million deaths in 2007
• 4.65 million survivors
• 37 survival world-wide
• About 100 000 new cases p.a. in South Africa
• About 60 000 deaths p.a. in South Africa
• 40 survival
• Survival in U.S. is now 65

About 21 000 people die of cancer every
day Worldwide more people die of cancer than of
AIDS, TB and malaria combined. In South Africa 6
die of AIDS for every 1 cancer death
3
More than 90 of cancers are caused by
environmental factors. This is very good news
because it means that the vast majority of
cancers can be prevented
4
ROLE OF CANSA AGAINST CANCER

• Vaccination hepatitis New drug
  development Patient care
• Pap smears Survivor care
• Health promotion
• Focus on Environmental molecules

5
CAUSES OF CANCER

• CANSAs view

• According to Doll

• Tobacco 29-31
• Diet 20-50
• Infections 10-20
• UV light (melanoma) 5-7
• Occupation 2-4
• Pollution 1-5
• Physical inactivity 1-2
• Sir Richard Doll

• Tobacco 29-31
• Diet 15
• Infections 10-20
• UV light (melanoma) 5-7
• Occupation 2-4
• Pollution 10-20
• Physical inactivity 1-2

6
WHAT IS MEANT BY POLLUTION?
7
Many pollutants can end up in drinking water
8
CANSA TARGET LIST
LCMS analytical apparatus at the University of
Stellenbosch

• Trans fats
• Bisphenol A
• Acrylamide
• Plasticizers
• Dioxin
• Cadmium
• Uranium
• Smoke
• Drinking water

9
TRANS FATTY ACIDS

• Made inadvertently
• Man-made during conversion of vegetable oil to
  margarine by industrial hydrogenation.
• CIS-bond converted to a TRANS-bond
• Proven relationship with coronary heart disease
• Association with breast cancer
• Association with prostate cancer
• Contribute more to body weight than unsaturated
  fats.

CIS
TRANS
SATURATED
10
WORLD REACTION TO TRANS FATS

• Banned in Denmark since 2003
• Contents of food displayed on label since January
  1st 2006 in U.S.
• Not present in UNILEVER margarines such as
  FLORA, RAMA and STORK and SPAR margarine.
• WOOLWORTHS does nor sell food containing
  partially hydrogenated plant oils.
• South African legislation written, published last
  year but not made law yet. Please !!!

CANSA will have all margarines tested
independently for trans fat contents and this
information will be posted on the CANSA website.
11
BISPHENOL A

• On 18 th April 2008 Canadian Government bans
  polycarbonate baby bottles because one of the
  ingredients Bisphenol A- is declared toxic and
  55-times more is released from bottles into hot
  water vs cold water.
• Bisphenol A (BPA) is man-made and has hormonal
  activity similar to estrogen but is used
  extensively to make polycarbonate and epoxy
  resins.
• BPA disturbs biological processes at very low
  concentrations. As little as 2 micrograms in a
  kilogram, i.e. 2 ppb. It is linked to breast
  cancer.
• Nevertheless FDA and EPA in U.S. continue to
  peg the so-called safe level 25-fold higher e.g.
  50 micrograms/kg body weight per day

Could Bisphenol A be causing breast cancer?
12
WORLD REACTION TO BISPHENOL A

• .

• We know a womens lifetime risk of breast
  cancer is directly linked to her lifetime
  exposure to estrogen both natural and synthetic
  estrogen. Its outrageous that manufacturers of
  some baby bottles are exposing little girls to
  BPA, a synthetic plasticizer that mimics
  estrogen, and possibly increasing that little
  girls risk of breast cancer later in life,
  especially when safe alternatives are available.
• Janet Nudelman, Director, Program and Policy for
  the Breast Cancer Fund.
• BPA alone is worth at least a million dollars
  every hour.
• University of Missouri Wade Welshons, in
  Tackling Plastics Toxic Health Threat,
  DISCOVER, May 2008, pg 51
• If I were a pregnant woman, I would try hard to
  avoid exposure to BPA
• Randy Jirtle, Duke University geneticist
  (DISCOVER, May, 2008, pg 50).

13
PLASTICIZERS

• Man-made chemicals used to make hard plastic
  softer and more sticky.
• Chemicals known as DEHP and DEHA.
• Used to make cling wrap from PVC.
• Used to wrap articles including food.
• Found to migrate from the plastic into fatty food
  like cheese and meat especially at high
  temperatures in the microwave oven.
• Found to cause cancer in mice and rats
• Found to interact with master genes in living
  cells e.g. affecting the brain
• Major man-made contaminant in ground water

CANSA analysis of cling wraps
14
CANSA RECOGNISES GLAD WRAP WHO IS DOING IT
RIGHT?
15
ACRYLAMIDE

• Man-made chemical formed spontaneously in
  carbohydrate food at high temperature, especially
  potato crisps and coffee
• Considered to be a probable human carcinogen
• Strongly associated with renal cancers
• Associated with post-menopausal endometrial and
  ovarian cancer
• Neurotoxic

The big public question is whether the amount of
acrylamide in foods is enough to lead to cancer?
16
DIOXIN

• Some of the most toxic chemicals known.
• Formed during the burninh of PVC and bleaching of
  paper fibres.
• Group 1 carcinogen according to IARC
• Fat soluble. Take 8 years for 50 to exit body.
• Causes mutations.
• Teratogen.
• Recently used as a poison against President
  Viktor Yushchenko of the Ukraine.
• He suffered from a form of persistent acne known
  as chloracne

17
CADMIUM URANIUM

• By-products of gold mining on the Westrand in
  Gauteng
• Waterways of the Wonderboomspruit Catchment
  contaminated
• About 400 000 people living in this area down to
  Carltonville
• CANSA asked to investigate possible cancer
  hazzard
• Cadmium is a wellknown cumulative carcinogen
• Uranium, if taken up, is bound in the skeleton
  where it can form osteosarcomas over long periods

18
SMOKE

• Smoke contains PAHs (Poly-aromatic-hydrocarbons)
• Some such as benzapyrene are extremely
  carcinogenic and cause lung cancers
• Benzapyrenes are also found in wood smoke, coal
  smoke and cars exhaust fumes
• Millions of South Africans are exposed to one or
  more of these forms of smoke and the cancer
  threat still needs to be ascertained
• Smoke should be avoided at all times

19
ASBESTOS

• Exposure can cause mesothelioma
• There are abandoned asbestos mines
• Asbestos has been used in building materials that
  are now getting old
• CANSA needs to ascertain the extent of asbestos
  threats in South Africa today

20
DRINKING WATER

• Dozens of chemicals may be found in water that
  are carcinogens
• Modern technology makes it possible to detect and
  measure the quantity of these chemicals.
• CANSA will outsource the testing of drinking
  water from 8 cities in South Africa.
• The water will come from buildings in which CANSA
  is housed.
• Results will be posted periodically on the CANSA
  website.

21
CANSA HOPES THAT THIS NEW INITIATIVE WILL HELP TO
REDUCE THE BURDEN OF CANCER in SOUTH AFRICA